US Ambassador Dan Shapiro visited the historic USS Porter ship on Friday, which is currently docked at the Haifa port, following a successful joint exercise with the Israeli Navy.

In a post on his Facebook page, Shapiro said he was very proud to visit the ship and its sailors, which US President Barack Obama has stationed in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea since 2010.

The ship, an Arleigh-Burke class destroyer, is equipped with the Aegis ballistic missile defense system, and has been deployed to "help defend Israel from the threat of ballistic missiles from Iran, Syria, and Lebanon," said Shapiro.